The Liberal Democrats have launched their ambition to extend free school meals to all primary school children, funded by a new share buyback tax. The government currently only provides meals for all children in reception, year 1 and year 2. In year 3 and above, the government has set stringent conditions on family income for children receiving free school meals. Currently in Worcestershire, just 5,978 or 19.5% of primary school children in year 3 and above receive free school meals. In government, the Liberal Democrats would ensure 100% of primary school children receive free school meals. The party’s plan also includes an immediate extension of free school meals to all 900,000 children living in poverty who currently miss out across both primary and secondary school. This is estimated to be 110,000 in the West Midlands, who would all be covered under the Liberal Democrats’ plan. Analysis by PWC found that every £1 spent on free school meals for the poorest children generates £1.38 in health and earnings benefits, including improvements to children’s health, education and future working life opportunities. The new policy will make the Liberal Democrats the most ambitious party on free school meals.The manifesto pledge would be funded by a 4% levy on the share buybacks of FTSE 100 listed corporations, similar to the excise tax on buybacks implemented by President Biden in the US, which could raise around £1.4bn a year. Share buybacks occur when companies use profits to inflate their own share price, a practice which critics have warned can come at the expense of productive investment in the economy. The sectors using share buybacks the most are oil and gas giants, banks and large corporations that own a number of food and consumer goods brands. This suggests the practice is being driven by companies profiting from soaring prices during the cost of living crisis. Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Worcester, Mel Allcott said: “Across Worcester, there are too many children expected to learn on empty stomachs with no guarantee of a hot meal when they get home. “Conservative MPs should hang their heads in shame at a legacy of children going hungry in the worst cost of living crisis in a generation. “It is time for change. Every vote for the Liberal Democrats in Worcester is a vote for a local champion who will fight for the wellbeing of children and their futures. “I am proud the Liberal Democrats have the most ambitious plan for free school meals of any party, which would save parents money and transform the future for millions of children.”
Number of starting apprenticeships in Worcester has fallen by 33.33%
The number of people starting apprenticeships in Worcester has fallen by 33.33% since 2015/16, House of Commons Library research analysed by the Liberal Democrats has revealed. It comes as the Conservative have announced a new policy to boost the number of apprenticeships despite a decline of 172,000 apprenticeship starts per year in England, a fall of over a third. The Liberal Democrats committed to increase pay for apprenticeships to at least the minimum wage and for the apprenticeship levy to be scrapped. This was introduced by the Conservative government in April 2017. Under current rules, firms with an annual wage bill of above £3m must set aside 0.5% of their payroll to apprenticeships. However, many organisations are unable to use the funds, where levy money is then reclaimed by the Treasury if remaining unused for two years. The resultant collapse in people starting apprenticeship is widening the skills shortages, and making it harder to encourage young people into the workforce. Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Worcester, Parliamentary Candidate Mel Allcott said: “Young people across the country are being let down by a Conservative party that has failed to give them the opportunities they deserve and give businesses the flexibility they desperately need. “The declining number of people starting apprenticeships in Worcester shows just how badly broken this Conservative government has left our apprenticeship system. “Urgent reform is needed. That’s why the Liberal Democrats committed to increasing the apprenticeship wage to stop treating apprentices as second class workers and to reform the apprenticeship levy to boost numbers and stop the decline we have seen under this Conservative government.”
Liberal Democrats call for protected status for rivers in Worcester after sewage dumped 248 times in 2023
The Liberal Democrats have called for a new protected status for local rivers and marine protected areas, after shocking figures reveal that Severn Trent dumped sewage 248 times in Worcester in 2023. Analysis of official data from the Environment Agency by the party shows that Severn Trent discharged sewage in Worcester’s waterways for a staggering 2,171 hours in 2023. In an effort to tackle sewage dumping, the Liberal Democrats have announced a massive expansion of marine protected areas and a new Blue Flag status for rivers will be included in the party’s general election manifesto. The introduction of Blue Flag status would set legally binding targets to prevent sewage dumping in those sites, giving special protected status for swimmers and wildlife. Worcester’s Liberal Democrats have led the way in campaigning against sewage dumping in the area. Nationally the party recently announced plans to abolish Ofwat, introducing a new regulator with greater powers, which follows its plans for a ban on water company executive bonuses. Mel Allcott, Liberal Democrat candidate for Worcester, said: “Worcester’s precious rivers have been destroyed after years of a Conservative government letting water firms get away with environmental vandalism. “It is time we got tough on polluting and profiteering water firms, yet Conservative MPs have stood by whilst swimmers have become ill and wildlife killed by sewage discharges. “This scandal has to end now. The Conservative party has failed to protect swimmers and wildlife. “The Liberal Democrats will have the boldest manifesto on cleaning up our rivers and coastlines. Families should be free to swim safely in the knowledge that our waters are not polluted with sewage.”
WLD is on TikTok!
So it’s all been happening at Worcester Lib Dems this morning. You see one of our hard working team tripped up and spilt coffee on the keyboard. There was a big plume of smoke and then just like utter magic somehow #WLD had a brand spanking new TikTok account!! Weird huh? Anyways we thought we shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth and set to work. So come and find us beautiful friends! We look forward to seeing you. We are @worcesterlibdems (https://www.tiktok.com/@worcesterlibdems), and if you go now, you might get a sneak peak of our new MEET THE CANDIDATE short, where we introduce our pick for MP of Worcester: The Brilliant Mel Allcott! #WLDonTikTok #newpastures #socialmediaisfun #WorcesterLibDems
SARAHS BLOG: June 2024
Election Results Worcester Liberal Democrats saw five City Councillors elected on 2 May. This is the highest number of Councillors we have ever had and is testament to how hard Liberal Democrats work for their residents. We are particularly delighted that John Rudge has been elected in the St Nicholas ward. We have been working hard in this area for a number of years and residents acknowledged this on 2 May. Cllr Melanie Allcott, our Parliamentary Candidate, polled more votes than any other candidate in Worcester when she was returned to the Guildhall for the third time. Mel is also now the Mayor of Worcester and we couldn’t be prouder. Support for Mel grows at every election as residents appreciate the hours she puts in. As support for the Conservatives dwindles, more and more Conservative voters are pledging support for Liberal Democrats. We are hoping to see a good number of Liberal Democrat MPs elected to Parliament and fighting for Liberal values. Will you lend Mel your vote on 2 May? Thank you to each and every one of you who voted Liberal Democrat. We will continue to work hard for all the residents of Leopard Hill and St Nicholas. It’s a beautiful place to live and work and we will strive to keep it that way and make improvements. As always, if there is anything we can help you with, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We are now the third largest party on Worcester City Council giving us a much stronger voice to represent you. We have not entered any coalition with other parties and will always vote according to Liberal Democrat principles. Planning Application We had a very lively and involved debate recently at the Parish Council Annual General Meeting to give residents a chance to discuss the new development proposals on the land to the east of the A4440. This is the area of land in front of the DHL warehouse. The proposal is to build two drive thru facilities for Starbucks and McDonalds and to introduce electric vehicle charging points and put in some parking. The consensus of the meeting is that residents are strongly opposed and that they are supported in that opposition by the Parish Council and by Sarah and John as the two local City Councillors. If you do want to include your own comments or concerns, then please do so before 5th June 2024. You can submit your comments here. Green Spaces This week, work is due to start on clearing the ditches and culverts which will enable run off water to flow into the ponds. This should alleviate some of the localised flooding we have been experiencing. We will continue to update you as work progresses. Bike Hire Scheme Beryl Bikes, our new bike hire scheme, is due to be launched later this month. 225 bikes will be available to hire across the city with 175 of those bikes being electric bikes. The bike share scheme will go a long way to reducing carbon emissions and improving air quality, as well as encouraging residents to be healthy and active. Join Us You can help us to fight for a better future. Liberal Democrats work hard for communities. We hear your concerns and never take you for granted. That is why we can now boast a membership of more than 90,000 people and that number continues to grow. Liberal Democrat members devise, develop, debate and decide Liberal Democrat policy. Members can get involved through joining policy working groups, responding to consultations and attending conferences. If you would like to join our growing membership you can do so here. A portion of your membership fees will go directly to our local party and help us to gain even more seats in future elections. You would be joining a local team of motivated individuals who all want to campaign for a fairer deal for residents, their families and friends. We hope you will consider joining us. Volunteer If you can spare an hour or two each month and would like to help us win locally, perhaps you would be happy to deliver for us in your street. The more deliverers we have, the more time we can spend talking to our neighbours and persuading them to vote for us next May. If you can’t deliver, perhaps you would enjoy getting involved in other administrative tasks. You might even want to join our canvassing team and come out knocking on doors with us. If you’d like to help, please let us know. If you have any problems or queries, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Cllr Sarah Murray – sarahmurraylibdem@gmail.com Cllr John Rudge – rudge.john@yahoo.com Bart Ricketts – email@bartricketts.co.uk Kind regards Sarah, John, Bart and Paul
Meet the Candidate: Parliamentary Candidate Mel Allcott
In a few short weeks the country goes back to the polls, and this time it’s the Big One! On July the 4th the country will make their voices heard on who gets to run the country in the General Election. In Worcester fighting for the Lib Dems is Councillor Mel Allcott. With an impeccable record in Council, Mel has been a dedicated champion for the people of Claines over the years, which was reflected in her receiving the highest votes of any single candidate across Worcester in the recent city elections. It’s one thing reading the headlines, but quite another seeing the person. So here is the lady herself, in her own words. Meet the Candidate: Mel Allcott!
COUNCILLOR MEL ALLCOTT READY FOR THE GENERAL ELECTION
COUNCILLOR MEL ALLCOTT READY FOR THE GENERAL ELECTION At 5pm on the 22nd May 2024, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak finally announced that the UK would have a general election on the 4th of July. After months of dithering and delay in a futile attempt to improve their constantly bad numbers, No. 10 finally threw in the towel and called the inevitable. After a battering in the recent local elections leaving the Conservatives third in council seat numbers, Rishi’s plan to count on voter apathy to help stem their losses was only too plain to see for anyone involved. At 5.01pm Councillor Mel Allcott, the Liberal Democrat candidate for Worcester was ready. “It’s about time we had an election. Change is needed and now is the time,” said Councillor Allcott. “Rishi may take credit for inflation going down but its minimal comfort for those with high mortgages. People are sick of being taken for granted and the government cannot take credit for anything. The inflation drop, would have happened anyway regardless. Meanwhile priorities to the public have been left to fester. The NHS has been turned into a shell of its former self. Clapping on doorsteps did nothing during Covid to help those workers do their jobs. Instead, we’ve seen closures like that of Farrier House GP surgery and the 40 new hospitals they promised are nowhere to be found. The cost of living has skyrocketed, with inflation being out of control since Liz Truss was given the reigns. Let’s not forget that the Prime Minister lost in a leadership election to Ms Truss as well. He was considered by his own party to be WORSE than she was. Then when it turned out she was way out of her depth, he came in through the back door. Members of the Tory party including Worcester’s very own Robin Walker have just toed the line in voting-through policies that have ruined our standing in the world as well as been damaging to the environment and the country we live in. Take their recent vote to allow sewage dumping into the rivers in Worcester. That saw a shocking 101% rise in the duration of sewage spills compared to the previous year. An analysis on official data from the Environment Agency, compiled by the House of Commons Library revealed that sewage was dumped into waterways in Worcester for 2,171 hours in 2023. The Tories have lost control of the country and have been pretty much asleep at the wheel for years. They never acted unless it benefitted their rich donors and friends as we saw during the PPE scandal during the Covid pandemic. Meanwhile MPs like Worcester’s Robin Walker were forced to stand by and say nothing, being made to vote along party lines like their bosses told them to. Robin was less an MP and more an errand boy. No wonder he’s now stepping down.” Mel Allcott has for years been a stalwart of the Worcester politics scene since she became a City Councillor in 20XX for the ward of Claines. She quickly rose in status and took the county council seat in 20XX seeing her vote share increase each time. In 2024”s city council election she was without a doubt the most popular candidate across all the wards in Worcester, garnering 1,798 votes, the most by any single candidate. “Winning that amount of votes was humbling” said Cllr Allcott. “I never take any election for granted, but seeing those figures as well as the votes for my colleagues across Worcester was extremely gratifying. It showed to us that the Lib Dems in Worcester have a real support for what we stand for. Those who voted Conservative but have become disillusioned with their antics over the last 14 years have begun to turn to us and believe that what we are doing is the way to move Worcester forwards.” In response to the election finally being called, Mel had only one thing to say: “Bring it on. Its time this Tory calamity was brought to an end and as the Liberal Democrat Candidate for Worcester I am ready to step up to that plate and deliver what the voters want: Strong Representation by a candidate from Worcester who delivers for the people of Worcester.”
Meet the Councillor: John Rudge
In one of the standout results of the City Council elections, The Worcester Lib Dems welcomed to the fold its newest Councillor, John Rudge. Those in the St Nicholas area (formerly Warndon Parish North) were already familiar with Cllr Rudge as he’d been a hard working member in the Parish Council over the last few years. Fighting off some stiff competition he joins the City Council team for the first time creating a formidable duo with Cllr Sarah Murray and giving the WLD five seats, the highest number to date. Heres a bit more about the man himself: 1.Name: John (Rudge) 2. DOB: 08/04 3. E-mail: rudge.john@yahoo.com 4. Birthplace: Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire. 5. Where do you Live? St. Nicholas – Corfe Avenue 6. Role/Title for WLD? St Nicholas City Councillor 7. When did you join the Lib Dem’s? 2016 8. Favourite Colour: Burgundy 9. Favourite Film: Shawshank Redemption 10. Favourite Song: Purple Rain 11. Favourite TV Show: ‘You’ 12. What would you do if you won the Lottery? It’d be spent on setting up a nature reserve next to the river Wye just outside Ross. 13. Tea or Coffee? Coffee in the morning and tea in the afternoon! 🙂 14. Tell us an Interesting fact about yourself? I was interviewed by Phil Tufnell for the BBC highlights of the recent Oval Test! 15. If you could meet any famous person (past or present) who would it be and why? Sinead O’Connor, or Prince. Would love to do a duet with either or, ideally, both! 16. What’s so good about Worcester? Worcester is unpretentious and genuine. Big enough to have most things to hand but small enough to get round easily. The Worcester Liberal Democrats want to make a real difference and you could be a part of it too! If you or anyone you know would like to join the team just click on the below link and from as little as £15 a year you can help shape the future of the Lib Dems in Worcester and beyond. Go to https://libdems.my.salesforce-sites.com/LiberalDemocrats/NewMemberLocal’ or see our link in the bio!
The Fab Four becomes FIVE!!
The Worcester Liberal Democrats were in celebration mode over the weekend after receiving some tremendous results in the City Council elections. The party saw their hard work for the residents of Claines recognised with three thumping victories for Councillors Mel Allcott, Jessie Jagger and Karen Lawrance. Coun Mel Allcott also gained the single most votes by any candidate, with 1,798 people putting a tick next to her name. WLD also saw their efforts in St Nicholas recognised (formerly Warndon Parish North), with Councillor Sarah Murray being re-elected. But thanks to his considerable efforts as a Parish Councillor, John Rudge was also elected to join Cllr Murray creating a formidable duo for the area. Mel Allcott (who is also standing in the General Election) said the result showed the party was going in the right direction by making sensible moves and slowly moving across the city. “Looking across the wards not everyone wants to make that move from the Tories to Labour and we can offer a home for them, we’re very centrist. “People can expect to be looked after, we are focused on transport, the environment and housing as well as the NHS which has been neglected for far too long. We will use a democratic approach and listen to our residents, not just tell them what the agenda is. “We have listened to people and it has worked, the results are in the majority we have in Claines.” Special mention had to go to John Renshaw, who in his third election saw a huge increase in his personal vote seeing him come in third in St Peter’s. John said ‘I’m delighted with the increase in my personal vote. The two Lib Dem candidates outpolled the two Conservative candidates in St Peter’s and now move into second place behind the Green Party. That’s real progress.’
SARAHS BLOG: ELECTION TIME AND REFLECTIONS
As the 2nd May election draws closer I am reflecting back on the challenges and successes of my year in office at Worcester Guildhall. At my first full Council meeting we were presented with a proposal to use harmful astroturf on an all weather football pitch. Knowing that this would kill the life beneath it, had cancer causing properties and was a material about to be banned in Europe, the LibDem team did not feel it was in the best interests of the people of Worcester to vote for this. I was therefore shocked that every other group of councillors at that meeting voted in favour. At my second meeting I put forward two motions. One asked the Council to pledge its commitment to the White Ribbon campaign to promote a life free from fear of violence for women and girls. The motion also raised questions about backlogs in Courts. However, the Conservatives voted against it saying that there were no backlogs! The second motion was about road policing and asked the Council to write to the Home Office about vehicles speeding around Warndon Villages late at night and the lack of resources we had to tackle it. The response from the Home Office was that it fell in the remit of the Police and Crime Commissioner. That was when I first began to think I could do a better job than the current PCC. Now I am standing for that very position which is also electedon the 2nd May 2024. In October I put forward a motion about Ash Dieback. The reason for this was that in spite of the efforts of the late Cllr Andy Roberts, the can was being kicked further and further down the road. Thankfully a plan is now in place which means that the disease can be sensitively managed and hopefully save some of Worcester’s trees. As well as these motions, I have worked on many issues for residents of St. Nics. We have worked hard to achieve the best outcomes. Trees have been cut back, gates installed in play areas and street lights have been repaired to name just a few. We are delighted to report that council officers have secured funding for the restoration of the Offerton Lane Nature Reserve Ponds and will be working to clear the ditches and watercourses that drain into these ponds, which in turn should alleviate a lot of the surface water across Warndon Villages. I look forward to the elections on 2 May and my greatest wish is that my friend and colleague, John Rudge will be elected to join our team on the Council so we can work even more effectively to get things done for the residents of St.Nicholas. We always aim to provide sensible solutions as well as scrutiny and challenge to any decisions by the Council. We promised to work for you in the last election. That is what we have done and that is what we will continue to do.
